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Burakumin
Burakumin 'Bloodline Curse: the Cadaver Curse' In addition to the Lonely Curse all Nosferatu suffer, the Burakumin take on the appearance of cold, hours-dead bodies upon their Embrace. They cannot mimic the appearance of vital life (the Blush) with the expenditure of Vitae. As their Blood Potency increases, their bodies appear to wither and decay as per the natural stages of human decomposition. Aside from this physical affliction, the Burakumin must deal with a social penalty as well. Try as they might to build up resources and increase their influence among mortals, Burakumin have trouble fitting in and earning a standing comparable to that of their fellow Kindred. Purchasing the Status Merit (in all of its forms) costs double. 'Bloodline Gift: Preservation' The Burakumin can mystically halt the effects of decomposition in a dead body, allowing (amongst other things) the preservation of the blood so it is as nourishing from the corpse as it would be from a living victim. :Cost: None :Dice Pool: Composure + Medicine + Blood Potency :Action: Instant Roll Results :Dramatic Failure: The body (or parts) that the character tries to preserve rot instantly into useless dust. :Failure: The corpse is not mystically preserved, and rots at the normal rate. :Success: The corpse is mystically preserved for months equal to blood potency. This power can be used on a given corpse more than once, extending the duration. :Exceptional Success: The corpse is mystically preserved for years equal to blood potency. 'Disciplines' Animalism, Nightmare, Obfuscate, Vigor 'Getsumei Devotions' ''Crow's Harvest'' (Nightmare ••) This power allows a Burakumin to stare into the eyes of a corpse and see reflected there the last thing the dead man witnessed. The vision appears only in the eyes of the cadaver and is visible to no one except the character using this power. If the Burakumin devours one of the corpse's eyes whole, he receives a +3 to this roll. :Cost: None :Dice Pool: Wits + Investigation + Nightmare :Duration: Instant Roll Results :Dramatic Failure: The Burakumin receives a misleading vision. :Failure: The Burakumin sees nothing more than the sightless eyes of a corpse staring at him. :Success: The character receives a clear impression of what the corpse saw as it died, as well as the few moments that led up to the event. :Exceptional Success: The character witnesses the entire scene leading up to the victim's death just as the victim saw it, including up to an hour's worth of time. This Devotion costs 2 Experiences (10 Beats) to learn. ''Channel of Hasu-Ko'' (Animalism ••) Raise the Familiar allows a vampire to raise an animal's corpse. This devotion of the Burakumin extends this ability, allowing the vampire to construct a tiny, autonomous servitor from the bodies of dead men. Such a creature travels with an eerie hopping gait, can climb walls like a spider and can speak in a tiny, hissing voice. It remains active for nights equal to the Burakumin's Blood Potency, breaking down into its component parts as soon as the sun rises after the last night. :Cost: 1 Vitae :Dice Pool: None :Action: Instant :Duration: Blood Potency in nights. Like a familiar, the homunculi takes bashing damage from attacks but aggravated damage from fire, and does not fall unconscious or bleed out. The Vitae infused into the homunculi at its creature forces a sympathetic link between it and the vampire. The vampire may use Feral Whispers on the homunculi at any time and over any distance, communicating silently or issuing commands at range. Its empathic bond with its creator allows it to interpret the spirit of the command. It is capable of understanding conditional spoken orders, of acting on its own out of self-preservation, and is completely loyal to its creator. Mind-affecting disciplines such Dominate, Nightmare, and Majesty do not work on it, though Animalism and Obfuscate do work. By default, a homunculus has: *Intelligence equal to its creator's, Wits 2, Resolve 1, Strength 1, Dexterity 3, Stamina 3, Presence 2, Manipulation 1, Composure 2; :Additional Vitae expenditures may increase any of a creation's Physical Attributes by one dot per Vitae. '' *Athletics 2, Crafts 1, Investigation 3, Stealth 3; :''Skill points may be changed, but not added to; that is, no homunculus may have more than 8 skill points. *Willpower 3, Initiative 7, Defense 5, Speed 8, Size 2, Health 5. :This Devotion costs 2 Experiences (10 Beats) to learn. ''What is Dead May Never Die'' (Nightmare •••, Obfuscate ••) The Burakumin slices away a token of a corpse's flesh and uses it to mystically obscure his physical location. The token can be a one-inch by one-inch wafer of flesh, a whole adult tooth, a toe, a knuckle-bone or something comparable in size, and the character must hold it in his mouth or in a closed, bare fist for the duration of the effect. If held in his mouth, he gains the Mute Condition for the duration of the effect; if held in his hand he gains the Arm Wrack Tilt for the duration of the effect. :Cost: 1 Vitae :Dice Pool: None :Duration: Scene While using this Devotion, the Burakumin may reflexively roll Dexterity + Athletics + Obfuscate in response to any physical attack, and subtract his successes from the attacker's successes as if he were dodging. Although visible (assuming other powers of Obfuscate have not been employed), he is slightly displaced from the physical location he appears to inhabit, making him substantially harder to hit. This Devotion costs 3 Experiences (15 Beats) to learn. ''Convocation of Hotoke'' (Nightmare •, Animalism ••••) With this power, the Burakumin can command a number of dead bodies to rise and perform relatively simple functions. He can command them to carry heavy objects, attack individuals or groups, guard a door, dig a ditch, build a wall, or do other fairly menial tasks. The corpses carry out their orders with rudimentary intelligence until the effect wears off or they are destroyed. Accomplishing the latter normally requires dismemberment, fire, or utter pulverization. :Cost: 1 Vitae + 1 Willpower :Dice Pool: Intelligence + Occult + Animalism :Duration: Until sunrise Roll Results :Dramatic Failure: The character animates every corpse he intends to, but the unquiet spirits of the dead take control and wreak vengeance on him. Should they succeed, they collapse into lifelessness once again. Otherwise, if they aren't destroyed, they collapse at the end of the night. :Failure: The character does not animate any of the corpses. :Success: The character animates one corpse per success on the activation roll, and they remain active until the next sunrise. :Exceptional Success: As per success, but the corpses remain active until the next time sunlight actually touches them. The character must speak his commands immediately on activating this power, and they must apply to every corpse animated. Corpses may be given individual orders, at a cost of one additional Vitae per corpse. The orders may be changed later, either individually or en masse, at the cost of another Willpower point. Giving orders requires that the Kindred speaks to the dead in person — a Burakumin cannot change a corpse-servant’s orders from half a continent away or by telephone, for example. Corpses animated with this power have Strength 3, Dexterity 2, Stamina 4, Brawl 2, Mental Attributes of 1 and Social Attributes of 0. They are Size 5, and Speed 10. They do not talk or respond to people who talk to them, but their eyes do track targets of their attention and they retain the basic awareness to perform such necessary actions as turning doorknobs, climbing steps, crawling through tight spaces and searching for hidden intruders. Animated corpses suffer only bashing damage from all attacks except fire, which causes aggravated damage. They do not suffer from wound penalties. Mind-affecting Disciplines such as Animalism, Dominate, Nightmare, and Majesty do not work on corpses. Obfuscate, however, does work. This Devotion costs 3 Experiences (15 Beats) to learn. 'Source' Vampire: the Requiem, pp 250-2. Blood & Smoke revisions by Is_A_Becca. Category:Bloodlines Category:Burakumin Category:Nosferatu Category:Translations Category:Devotions